JABAR EKSPRES – The Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Ponorogo Regency, East Java, urges residents around Tumpakpelem Village, Sawoo Subdistrict, to be aware of the potential for subsequent soil movement or liquefaction disasters such as the recent one in the local rice fields.
“We urge the community to remain vigilant and anticipate when there is a potential disaster in their area,” said Head of Emergency and Logistics of BPBD Ponorogo, Surono, in Ponorogo on Sunday (7/5).
The warning was conveyed following the incident of soil movement in the rice field area on the siring terrace of Dukuh Jabag, Tumpakpelem Village, which caused at least two rice fields to collapse.
The incident, which occurred on Thursday (4/5) morning, was recorded by residents and later went viral on social media.
There were no casualties, but the landslide caused the rice fields to peel off up to 50 meters long. This made the locals anxious. Moreover, the cracked soil that appeared around the ground motion was observed to reach 150 meters with a center of 5 meters wide.
According to Surono, the natural phenomenon is called liquefaction, where the soil is saturated or loses strength due to its inability to hold water.
This is not the first time such a natural event has occurred. Something similar happened about 40 years ago. However, after the first incident, sedimentation occurred and the residents turned it into a rice field.
“There is a water source that enters the ground, because there is water entering, causing a saturation point,” he explained.
From the results of field monitoring, the area of land affected by liquefaction reached 50 meters with a crack length of about 150 meters and a landslide crown of 5 meters.
As a result of this incident, he said, there were two rice fields affected, namely Gimun’s, which was badly damaged by about 20 square meters and Marsid’s by 700 square meters.
